As Lincoln students near the end of their first semester and prepare for finals, students in various art classes have completed various projects and are gearing up for more in the future. 

In Nancy Abens’ Photography 3-4 classes, students are “working with the creative controls– motion and depth of field. They are shooting portraits, mainly.”

In Abens’ Photo 5-6 classes, students “made star books [books that unfold in the shape of a star] and are printing out a variety of self-portraits.”

Both Photography 3-4 and 5-6 classes are working together alongside the Ethnic Studies classes at Lincoln on the Immigrant Stories Project. “All the students will be teamed with an interview team, and will be making large portraits of the students who are being interviewed by the Ethnic Study classes,” says Abens.

In Lilly Windle’s Graphic Arts 1-2 class, students are finishing a unit about typography; the next project will be making posters. Following that, they will be creating album art; students are mainly building off of skills from Adobe Illustrator and moving into Photoshop.

Windle’s Applied Design class is working on practical real-world projects. For example, they just completed designing motorcycle helmets for a contest. They will continue to real-world projects as if they were professional graphic designers, tackling areas like landscaping design and/or architectural design. 

In Windle’s other class, Digital Photography, students do photoshoots every couple weeks and the latest project is about motion and depth. Windle wants students to try to connect with personal vents, and encouraged students to take pictures during winter break. 

Addy Kessler teaches both Product Design 1-2 and Advanced Product Design 3-4. In Kessler’s 1-2 class, students started the year with a leather project where they learned how to create patterns and create a functional wallet for themselves. They then learned leathercraft and how to price their products; throughout all the projects they do, they are learning how to source materials.

Students have also completed model-making to learn about how to make scale models, architectural models, furniture design, and packaging design, and they just started a big textile arc. After they finish up their weaving, they’ll learn how to dye and print fabric. 

Towards the tail-end of the year, students in Product Design will get to design and make their own bags as well as getting to make leather sandals. Lastly, they’ll learn some woodworking techniques. 

The Advanced Product Design class began the year with paper lantern making, with a primary focus on traditional Japanese lanterns. Students are also learning about design techniques that can’t be patented because they are public domain; students can take these skills that are public domain and still create something that they as an artist have ownership over. Eventually, they will be able to monetize and sell their work.